Pippy Houldsworth is delighted to announce a solo exhibition of new paintings and drawings by Japanese artist Kounosuke Kawakami at the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation, London from 11 May to 7 July 2011. (H)allo-poiesis will showcase some of Kawakami's major works from the past year, produced specifically for the exhibition.

Kawakami's industrial landscapes have a raw textural quality, presenting futuristic buildings and structures in scenes devoid of human presence. Using imagery and references from his native Japan, he presents us with a dilapidated world akin to the aftermath of nuclear disaster. Whilst such subject matter has long been a concern of the artist, his works seem all the more poignant in the light of recent events. His haunting and apocalyptic visions of the power of nature at work seem almost prophetic, and certainly illustrative of the fate that has befallen his nation in recent weeks.

Whilst Kawakami's works grapple with the aftermath of industrialisation and nuclear disaster, they do so with a fundamentally positive outlook. Nature plays an important part in the paintings, as fauna and flora creep across their surfaces, taking hold and continuing to flourish. Suggesting ideas of regeneration and renewal, Kawakami's works show the possibility of recovery from the edge of disaster, and present hopeful possibilities for the future.

Kounosuke Kawakami gained his MA at St Martin's College of Art in 2004, and continues to lives and work in London. He was part of Creekside I and Creekside II at APT, London, selected by Victoria Miro and Matthew Collings respectively, and in 2007 he won the VOCA painting prize at the UENO Royal Museum, Tokyo, selected by curator Santo Oshima. In addition to his solo exhibition at the Daiwa Foundation, London, Kawakami will exhibit at SCAI the Bathhouse, Tokyo, and Pippy Houldsworth, London in the next year. His works are part of the Progressive Collection, Ohio; the West Collection, Pennsylvania; UBS, New York; UBS Los Angeles; Wellington Management, Boston and London; the Elspeth and Imogen Turner Collection, UK; the Johnny Pigozzi Collection, New York; and the Taguchi Collection, Tokyo.